March 23, 2008

Holy Week 08 – Easter

Easter Eyes

Matthew 28:1-10

Opening Words: There are fifty two-weeks in a calendar year. But there is week that is different from the rest. It was a week that changed the history of the world. We call it Holy Week. That week began on Sunday when Jesus rode into the Golden City on the noblest animal. On Monday is cleansed the temple. On Tuesday he cursed the fig tree. On Wednesday he taught about the Kingdom of God. On Thursday he washed the disciple’s feet, observed his final Seder, and went to the garden to pray. He was tried and interrogated several times. On Friday he went to the cross and died. From a human perspective the story was over but through the eyes of God it was just beginning. On Saturday his closest friends grieved. On Sunday a few women showed up at his tomb and found it empty. The once dead Jesus was not alive! Holy Week started on the back of a noble animal and it ended with an empty tomb. This morning we remember how that Holy Week ended. Jesus is dead on the cross. May God give you ears to hear.

Matthew 28:1-10 ¹After the Sabbath, at dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to look at the tomb.

    ²There was a violent earthquake, for an angel of the Lord came down from heaven and, going to the tomb, rolled back the stone and sat on it. ³His appearance was like lightning, and his clothes were white as snow. ⁴The guards were so afraid of him that they shook and became like dead men.

    ⁵The angel said to the women, "Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. ⁶He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay. ⁷Then go quickly and tell his disciples: 'He has risen from the dead and is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him.' Now I have told you."

⁸So the women hurried away from the tomb, afraid yet filled with joy, and ran to tell his disciples. ⁹Suddenly Jesus met them. "Greetings," he said. They came to him, clasped his feet and worshiped him. ¹⁰Then Jesus said to them, "Do not be afraid. Go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee; there they will see me."

In Bill Bryson’s book, The Lost Continent: Travels in Small Town America, tells of going to Hannibal, Missouri. He wanted to visit the home of the noted author, Mark Twain. That house draws 135,000 visitors a year. It is promoted as an exact reproduction of Samuel’s Clemens’s home. The truth is Bryson was a little disappointed in the house. He didn’t think it was an exact reproduction. The house had vinyl siding and replacement windows. There were phone lines and powers lines running into the house. There was water sprinkler system to water the lawn. He couldn’t even go inside. He was forced to examine the house by looking through the windows. It was nothing like he expected because it was nothing like he had read in the famous books.

As he looked through the windows he met another tourist. He said to him, “Well, what do you think?” The gentleman said, “I love it here! It is great! I come three or four times a year. I go out of my way to come here. I have been here over thirty times.” Bryson thought this guy must be a real fan of Mark Twain. He said, “Really? Do you find the house to be as it was described in the books?” The friendly tourist said, “I don’t have clue. I have never read any of Mark Twain’s books!” You don’t have to read the books to visit the shrine. Do you know anyone who has visited the shrine but has never read the books? It happens in church all the time.

Let me tell you something on this Easter morning. You can visit all the shrines of Christendom and still not be a Christian. Can someone say, “Amen!” You can get up early on Easter morning, stay up late on Christmas Eve, taste the body and blood of Christ at the communion table and never miss a baptism. You can visit all the shrines and still not be Christian. Those holy days and sacraments in the life of the church were never meant to be observed. They were meant to be experienced. The only way that you and I can really appreciate this glorious Easter morning is by experiencing the risen Christ. That is what the scriptures tell us. Look at the text with me.

Look at the whole weekend with me. On Friday Jesus is crucified. He dies in a matter of hours. They take his lifeless body off the cross and placed his corpse into a tomb. All human hope is gone. He is dead! On Saturday nothing happened. It was the Sabbath. The law rabbinic prohibited anyone from touching the dead. So on Sunday morning a handful of women show up to pay their final respects. They are planning on treating his body with spices. However, when they arrive everything changes. They are greeted by an angel that gives them the news that will change history. Jesus is no longer dead. Jesus is alive and well. The text says they leave filled with emotion.

Take a closer look at the text with me. I want you to notice two things. First, when the angel gives them the great announcement the women are confused. Verse eight says, “So the women hurried away from the tomb, afraid yet filled with joy, and ran to tell his disciples.” They are confused. Can you blame them? The news is too good to be true. It is too wonderful to believe. Second, when they experience the risen Christ for themselves there confusion is gone. Verse nine simply says, “They worshipped him.” This is the point. They are confused when they hear about the resurrection but they are passionate once they have experienced the risen Christ for themselves. The truth is you can not just be told about the resurrection. You must experience the risen Christ for yourself. Once you have experienced the risen Christ everything changes. You look at life itself in a different way. Looking at the world through Easter eyes means you are able to see things that were once invisible.

This morning I want to talk about three great discovered ones. You made these discoveries on the day that you accepted Christ as your Lord and Savior. Three great discoveries you made when you passed from just hearing about the resurrection and experienced the resurrected Jesus for yourself. Three great discoveries you are able to see through your Easter eyes. There is a world of difference between intellectually understanding that Jesus was resurrected and experiencing the risen Christ for your self. So if you are ready say, “Amen!” I will be brief. You have ham to eat.

A Great Comfort

When you look at life through Easter Eyes you discover a great comfort. The source of this great comfort is the resurrection. Did you know there are over 300 verses in the New Testament that are concerned about the bodily resurrection of Jesus? John 11:25 and 26 says, “Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; yet shall he live.” What does take mean? It means on the moment you accepted Jesus as your Lord and Savior death had no hold on you. Jesus was the perfect sacrifice for your sins and you have been saved by grace and by grace alone. When you look at life through Easter Eyes you discover a great comfort.

British minister W.E. Sangster contracted an incurable disease that slowly caused his muscles to waste away, his voice to fail and his throat to become unable to swallow. He continued in ministry, right up until the point where his voice had gone and he could barely hold a pen. On Easter morning, just a few weeks before he died, he wrote in a letter to his daughter: "It is terrible to wake up Easter morning and have no voice with which to shout, "He is risen!" - but it would be still more terrible to have a voice and not want to shout." When you look at life through Easter Eyes you discover a great comfort. When our days are over in this world we know we are going to heaven for eternity! And all of God’s people said, “Amen!”

A Great Commission

When you look at life through Easter Eyes you discover a great commission. Matthew 28:16-20 says, “Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. Then Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age." What does that mean? That means that Jesus has a job for us. We are not just in this world to be consumers. We are not just in this world to be happy. We are in this world for a purpose. We are in this to make disciples. When you look at life through Easter Eyes you discover a great commission.

In the poem Proud Words Margaret Deeney wrote

Tis Sweet to hear “I Love You”

Benrath the Giggling Moon;

Tis Fun to hear, “You Dance Well”

To a lilting, swing tune;

Tis great to be proposed to

And whisper low, “I do;”

But the greatest words in all the world,

I’ve got a job for you.”

The master of the universe has a job for you and me. In one hundred years the things that are so important to you now won’t mean a thing. In one hundred years no one will care won the Super Bowl. In one hundred years no one will care about the size of your bank account or the size of your home. In one hundred years no one is going to care about your graying hair or your last weigh in at WOW! The only thing that is really going to matter is your relationship with Jesus. The Master is going to ask you, “How many disciples have you made?” How many disciples have you made? When you look at life through Easter Eyes you discover a great commission. And all of God’s people said, “Amen!”

A Great Companionship

When you look at life through Easter Eyes you discover a great companionship. I Peter 5:7 says, “Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.” What does that mean? It doesn’t just mean the God of the universe cares about you. It means the God of the universe is passionate about you. He know your biggest dreams and your greatest fears. It means He laughs when you laugh and He cries when you cry. When you look at life through Easter Eyes you discover the depth of God’s great companionship.

Dwight Morrow, the father of Anne Morrow Lindbergh, once held a dinner party to which Calvin Coolidge had been invited. After Coolidge left, Morrow told the remaining guests that Coolidge would make a good president. The others disagreed. They felt Coolidge was too quiet, that he lacked color and personality. No one would like him, they said. Anne, then age six, spoke up: "I like him," she said. Then she displayed a finger with a small bandage around it. "He was the only one at the party who asked about my sore finger." "And that's why he would make a good president," added Morrow.  The God of the universe cares about your sore finger and your greatest concerns in life. But you will never really understand how much he cares until you look at this world through Easter Eyes. And all of God people said, “Amen!”

Back in December Kathy and I had the privilege of traveling the Holy Land. It was a great experience. We saw all the famous sites. The last thing we did was go to the Garden Tomb. It was a beautiful place, filled with flowers and trees. Bishop Hopkins led us in communion. We went to the place where many believe Christ was resurrected. We touched the large stone that covered the cave. We went into the tomb and examined all the details. As I came out of the tomb I noticed a man sitting on a bench. He looked at home. I looked at our tour guide and said, “Does that fellow on the bench work for your company?” She said, “No. She just comes to this place because he enjoys the garden.” I said, “He is one lucky Christian. He can come to this wonderful place regularly.” Our guide said, “He isn’t a Christian. He is Muslim. He just comes to this place because he enjoys the garden.” You can go to the Garden Tomb and not be a Christian.

You can visit all the shrines of the faith, Easter morning, Christmas Eve, the communion table and holy baptism. You can be here today and not be a Christian. Easter is not something that was meant to be observed. It was meant to be experienced. And all of God’s people said, “Amen!”